The present invention relates to a pipe coupling for connecting together two pipe ends.
The invention is particularly directed to a connection for pipe ends which are each provided with an annular collar while one pipe end has a housing member which encloses a plug-in member provided on the other pipe end and which is sealed against its outer wall by means of an annular seal. In such a coupling, an outer annular collar is provided at the housing member and an outer annular collar is provided at the plug-in member and there is further provided a fast release lock which has releasably connected partial clamps with radially inwardly directed flanges that pass behind the two annular collars when the pipe coupling is closed.
Such pipe couplings are often required to connect together individual pieces of a pipeline, it previously having been necessary to have only exactly linear pieces in order to produce such a pipe connection. If the pipeline had to change direction or the center axes of the individual pieces of the line could no longer be accurately aligned due to even slight deviations in position or bends in the individual pieces, difficulties would arise in the establishment of the connection due to the canting existing between the plug-in member and the sleeve member, or it was impossible to establish a connection.
It could of course be conceivable to make appropriate compensations by inserting intermediate pieces which permit the coupling to be pivoted. The introduction of additional intermediate pieces, however, results in correspondingly higher expenditures for pipeline components. Additionally, it often happens that a plurality of line sections need to additionally be installed to extend the pipeline in the axial direction after the initial installation of the line sections.